Deep Water Running and Virtual 5k!

I'm very inarticulate tonight but am too lazy to rewrite this post, so I apologize! It has good information, it's just poorly written. Just go with it.... :)

It has been 24 days now since I've run. Not that I'm counting....but really, it's easy because my last run was on March 1.  After going through the I'm-lazy-and-am-just-going-to-wallow-and-eat-everything phase, I decided it was time to move on with my life and get some exercise. Eating everything in sight is fun, until you realize that you haven't exercised in weeks and clothes don't fit like they used to! So, I enlisted the help of some other injured runner friends to try out Deep Water Running with me! Kara, Jessica and I picked a day to go try out this somewhat silly thing! Not gonna lie, I was nervous and didn't know what to expect! I even had a dream that it was more like synchronized swimming (I'm not good at swimming, so swimming while in synch was NOT what I was looking for!) and that someone emptied the pool on me at the end of the night. Fortunately, Deep Water Running was much better than that!

There are three classes a week- one at John Jay College and two at a church on 50th between Park & Lex. Kind of weird that there's a big pool in the basement of this church, but just go with it!

For more details on schedule, locations, etc. click here. I wish I had seen that website before the class, because it's much easier to navigate than the one I was looking at! Kara and Jessica just ended up emailing to find out more details about the class. Don't worry about purchasing a class before you go-  it's really hard to fill up a pool with people so you can just show up. I don't think it would ever be considered "sold out"- you can always squeeze another person in the deep end!

As I said above, I'm not a great swimmer. And by that, I mean that I've never swam a lap in my life. So I was a little bit worried about how this class would be, with being in the pool for 45 minutes and NOT in the shallow end. But, with the help of a little flotation belt, I was just fine! Then my biggest worry became that my fingers would be wrinkled when I got out.... (they were, btw!)

The class is based on four different strides- a power walk, a faster jog, an uphill and a downhill jog. You simply modify the length of your stride and your arm positions to move from one type of "run" to another. The faster your move your arms and legs, obviously the harder it is. Your legs are supposed to remain straight, for maximum resistance, with your toes pointed. It's harder than it sounds! After doing a quick warm up, we started on intervals. We cycled through the different strides- power walk, uphill, downhill, quick jog, with some rest - several times and in different combinations/lengths of time. It was actually pretty tough! I've only ever spent time in a pool hanging out and drinking fruity drinks. That is NOT the same as deep water running! I felt like I got a good core and leg workout, with no impact!

While I didn't get a runner's high from this class, I thought it was a good substitute to running. When we first got to the class, Robert (the teacher) told us that one of his students ran the Boston Marathon in April, got injured and couldn't run again until the Brooklyn Half. She only did Deep Water Running three times a week for a month, and PR'ed by 5 minutes in Brooklyn! Sounds pretty good to me! While I don't plan to go three times a week, I would like to go again. Let me know if you want to join!

Now, on to running (sort of)! I signed up for a Virtual 5k yesterday, and you should too! I didn't sign up for it because I'm going to race the shit out of it. Or even jog it. I'll probably end up walking it over several days, because I'm still not running, but that's not the point.  I signed up for Abby's Kick Ass Virtual 5k because it's for a great cause and hits close to home for me. When I was 12 and my brother was 13, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis. He was sick for almost an entire year and in and out of the hospital more times than we could count. He was on steroids constantly, had several surgeries, and no longer has his large intestine. Abby's story is, unfortunately, very similar. She shares her battle with colitis on her blog, and has organized a virtual 5k to raise money for the cause. All the details are here. It's only $15 to enter, and that gets you one entry into her raffle! The more you pay, blog or tweet, the more entries you get. A birdie told me that the raffle prizes are going to include Oiselle, and obviously lots of other things! If you have $15 that you can spare, donate it to Abby for this cause - to save another little kid from having to go through colitis, or a grown-up runner, a mom, a dad, a grandparent. Anyone. Having lived in the same house as someone with colitis, I know (from only witnessing, not experiencing) that it is something no one should have to live through. Help her reach a goal and change a life at the same time.


Have you ever tried Deep Water Running? Do you want to go with me?! 

Did you sign up for Abby's run!?

Not Running and Lots of Eating

I jinxed myself. My last blog post was titled "Feelin' Good!" This one should be titled "Feelin' like Crap and Not Running." Note to self: never write a positive blog post again about how your running is going so well, because your next one will be the exact opposite.

I hate talking about injuries. They make me feel like a failure. They make me feel like I let people down- my coaches, my Oiselle teammates, myself. And they make me feel like I did something wrong.

But I didn't. I stopped running when my leg started hurting and I only ran again when I was told that I could. But the next very short run turned into a limp, which has turned into doctor appointments, x-rays and hobbling around for a week and a half.  I have an appointment with a sports doctor tomorrow morning so hopefully I'll get some answers, more tests, pain meds or my leg amputated- I'll leave the decision up to him.

So far, 2013 has not been my year. It started off with a ridiculously tight IT band issue, then the flu. Finally, I got in a few really good weeks of training where I felt like I was really making some improvements, and now I can't even walk normally. So, that of course, means I'm not running the NYC Half on Sunday. I'm bummed to not be running, but I'm glad that I'll still get to cheer on friends! (Good luck and have fun, everyone!)

With all the extra time I now have on my hands, I've taken up eating, sleeping and drinking like they're my job, and have been spending more time with my friends and boyfriend. Some of these things are great, some are not so good!

I'm trying to stay mentally positive, which has worked about 85% of the time. My goal to really work on more core while not running has been much less successful. My be-lazy-and-eat-everything-in-sight phase seemed like a lot more fun, but now I'm regretting it.  My body isn't feeling good, I'm feeling sluggish, tired and well, lazy. I'm not doing any cross training until at least after my appointment tomorrow, and am limiting my walking as much as possible, so I don't have many options right now! Now that the Girl Scout cookies are gone, I'm determined to get back to doing some core exercises and push ups. But while those are great and all, driving through Central Park made me really miss it...


What's the worst part about an injury for you? Do you beat yourself up over it? Do you try to stay active or get lazy like me?

Feelin' Good!

The last few weeks of running have been great. I just finished my second week of my new training plan from my coaches and feel awesome! I've made some changes, my body is making changes and it feels like things are coming together.

I've never been a very high-mileage runner. Quite frankly, while training for the Philly Marathon, it kind of scared me to run long and run often. I would often wake up feeling a new tight muscle here, or a twinge there and it felt like something was constantly falling apart. I only ran 4 days a week during training and my mileage was never that high. Now, for half marathon training, I'm running more than 30 miles every week, running 5 days a week, and am feeling good! I'm gaining my running confidence back and slowly finding my speed again.

I know that I lost a LOT of fitness after the Philly marathon because I had to take time off due to an IT band issue. In December, I ran 30 miles. Total. I did better in January, with 84 miles, but it has taken me a while to feel like I can run somewhat fast again!  Last week was fairly rough.  After being sick for 5 days the week before, I ran 34 miles last week. But by the time last weekend rolled around, Saturday's run of 6 easy miles felt really hard and my Sunday run with Jess felt harder than any run recently. But this week, everything feels easier and I feel like I can already see the benefits of last week's work.

I want to become a stronger, faster & better runner, so I've been focusing on a few things in the last few weeks to make that happen.  My training plan is completely different than anything I've done before, which is the biggest change. This includes more days with speed, but balances it out with recovery runs and easy runs. On the easy days/miles, I don't push it. On recovery days, I REALLY don't push it. And on speed days/intervals, I go for it.  My mileage is higher, but it's higher with quality miles. Not go-out-and-run-fast-for-no-reason miles which I may or may not have done before...

I've also been focusing on my running form and forward lean. I used to run basically standing straight up.  See exhibit A.

Even at mile 26.1 of a marathon I was still standing up
straight! Not necessarily a good thing...

Photo credit: Ashley

Now, I'm consciously working on engaging my hamstrings and glutes more while running.  I've also been doing more core work and strength training, and lunges before every run to hopefully keep me injury free.  I've also been incorporating (pre and post runs) some PT exercises to make sure my IT band stays happy, some extremely painful foam rolling (when I can bring myself to do it the way I was showed at Finish Line) and stretching. These have quickly become some of my favorite stretches, thanks to Oiselle and Jasyoga!

My body is feeling so much more solid and stronger than during marathon training. My training schedule has so much variety in it that I now look forward to every run. And I'm looking forward to my first race of the year (NYC Half on March 17) to see all my work come together and hopefully pay off in the form of a new PR!

How's your running going? Are you training for something? What's your next race? What are your favorite strength training exercises/DVDs/classes?

Learned & Loved: January 28-February 3

{What I Learned & Loved!  A short and sweet recap of my previous (running) week: ideas of what worked for me so I can do it again in the future, things to change and highlight(s) of my week. This will be something I can reference down the road in training cycles, when I'm struggling or when I feel like things are going well.}

Learned: Running fast and feeling good one day does not mean that running fast will feel good another day. On Thursday, when the weather looked like this (note wind speed) I had 8 miles on the schedule with some mile repeats and short recoveries. 

I planned to do this run in the morning, but after being woken up at 4am and again at 6:30am from wind that sounded worse than Hurricane Irene or Sandy, along with rain slapping against our windows, I postponed this run until the afternoon.  That meant I had all day to read on Twitter about how windy it was and how hard it was to run south, straight into a tailwind. People were NOT kidding. With my schedule calling for 4 x 1 mile @ 7:15, I tried to plan out my route as best I could so the repeats would come while running north. But obviously, I can't run north all the time, so I had to suck it up and run some/parts of repeats straight into the wind. My miles came out at 7:09, 7:25 (straight into the wind and was giving it everything), 7:13 and 7:11 and after this run, I felt awesome!

On Sunday, my schedule called for 8 miles again, with 3 x 1 mile at 7:35 with 1 minute recovery. This, I thought, would be easy after Thursday's run, but I struggled more with this run. Fortunately, Jess ran with me, so I had someone to keep pushing me when I really didn't feel like it. This run, even without the wind, felt so much harder to me than Thursday. I think my body was just getting progressively more tired as the week went on and I just didn't have the energy for this run. BUT, we did it anyway! Splits came out to be 7:35, 7:25 (thanks, Jess!) and 7:32. 

Loved:  While some runs this week felt really hard, I'm really happy that I hit all of my paces (with the exception of the mile straight into the wind above!) and got in all my miles for the week. This was my highest mileage week since the Philadelphia Marathon, clocking in at 34 miles. That's nearly twice as many miles as I've ever run for half marathon training in the past, so I'm excited to see what the NYC Half in March brings!

What did you learn this week? What did you love?

Learned & Loved! January 21-27

What I Learned & Loved! 

This is a delayed post from last week. I was sick and out of work for four days so have been playing catch-up on my life since then!

Learned: The flu sucks. But it's awesome to have your coaches checking in on you, asking how you're feeling and not having to worry about how you're going to make up for the lost week. Last week while I was sick (from Tuesday-Saturday), Derek and Allison checked in on me every day, which was so appreciated! I felt bad and was frustrated because I got sick on the FIRST day I was supposed to do one of their workouts, but was obviously not in any condition to run for a few days. And when I was ready to run again, they were there with a revised training plan for me so I could ease back into running! Thank you, Derek and Allison! (I promise I'll still learn what VO2 max is, I just didn't have it in me last week to look this up in between sleeping, blowing my nose and sweating. While sitting on the couch. Ew.)

Loved: I loved getting in my first good run after being sick! On Sunday I went out for 6 (snot-filled), glorious miles. I took it easy and didn't look at my Garmin, except to slow myself down a few times!   I returned from this run feeling very grateful that my body repaired itself after only a few days of feeling horrible.  On Friday, I was completely exhausted after just getting groceries and unloading them, and on Sunday, I made it out for a run, to NJ to see "Silver Linings Playbook" and even out for a friend's birthday! It's amazing what the human body can do!

Now that I'm back to normal this week, I'm loving following my training plan and getting in some good runs! Bring it on NYC and Eugene Half Marathons!

What did you learn and love this past week?

Learned & Loved! January 14-20

What I Learned & Loved! 

Learned: 
I learned that I'm not the invincible sleeper that I used to be. Until recently, I've always been able to sleep anywhere, anytime. 2am, 2pm, 9pm, 11am....whenever. In a bed, at a Dave Matthews Band concert, with someone playing an instrument in the same room as me, in a car, in a bar (yes, that has happened...more than once.) Anywhere. But twice in the last week I've taken naps between the hours of 6-9pm, woken up for a few hours then gotten back into bed around midnight. Both times, I've failed at falling asleep until at least 1am. Last night was one of those nights, so thankfully today is a rest day because I'm beat! I need to commit to an earlier nap after work, or just going to bed earlier. Today I'm planning to get into bed for a nap as soon as I get home from work. Aka in 20 minutes. Rest is just as important as running so I intend to put as much importance on my nap today as I do my runs! :)

Loved: 
I loved finally committing to get a coach(es) and getting my training plan for the rest of January! It has me really excited to 1) do some actual speedwork on a real track...which I've only done once since middle school 2) incorporate some speed into long runs 3) finally figure out (and remember) what VO2 Max is! :) I've read about this so many times and I always forget it immediately since I've never seen it on my training plan before.  But now that it's on my schedule, I'm determined to read about it again and actually remember what it is and why it's important! That can be what I learned for next week! :)

What did you learn this week? What did you love?

Thank You Finish Line PT!

On Friday, I went to Finish Line PT for a Peak Performance Analysis. Let's back up a bit; after taking a week off of running over the holidays due to knee pain, I treated myself to a run on Christmas day. I made it half a mile before my knee started hurting. When I got home, I tweeted something like "HELP ME! MY LIFE IS OVER! I CAN'T RUN!"  Abby (and maybe Jess- can't remember and the tweets are too old to find now) tweeted back that I should go see a Physical Therapist, and recommended Finish Line PT.  My insurance is less than stellar, so I was discouraged when I saw that Finish Line doesn't take it, and basically gave up that hope.

A few days later, I got an email from Sara at Finish Line PT, who handles the social media for the office.  She offered me a Peak Performance Analysis, which included an Injury Assessment and a chance to run on their AlterG! I was so amazed that she contacted me after just seeing one tweet about my knee pain!  We emailed back and forth to set up a time, and I ended up going in on Friday.

After seeing my doctor a few days after Christmas, we concluded that my knee pain was caused by my IT band, which my doctor described as feeling "like a rock." I don't think that was a compliment. While I've been lucky enough to get back to running after an extremely painful, but obviously effective, sports massage, there must be an underlying issue that caused the IT band pain to begin. So on Friday, I was happy to get some expert advice from Tom at Finish Line!

First I ran on the treadmill for a Gait Analysis for Tom to analyze.  Then I walked around for him to see how my feet land. He thought that my feet/legs seemed to look okay for the most part, but noticed that I'm hardly able to bend backwards and determined that the issue must be coming from my hips. Now that I'm writing this, I'm remembering that once I started running again after the marathon my left hip (which is the leg that has had issues) felt super tired/sore after every run.  I've also had the urge to stretch my hips out a lot in the last year so this all makes sense!  Tom gave me some hip stretches to do that give a much bigger stretch than anything I was doing on my own, and he let me video tape him so I won't forget the exercises. Awesome, because I forgot pretty quickly so was glad to have the video to reference!  I also bought myself a new torture device, shown below. My previous foam roller was too forgiving- I'd get off it and it would be dented from my body weight so this is definitely better/more painful/what I needed.

After Tom was done showing me the stretches, I got set up with the AlterG! You put on these funny shorts that feel like they're made out of wet suit material and have a huge circular zipper around them.  You zip yourself into the machine, then it weighs you. While I have been running outside without pain, obviously at 100% of my body weight, it was nice to get a break from that on the AlterG!  Tom set the machine to 80% of my body weight, but said I could play around with it. I took the machine down to as low as 50% of my body weight. The lower the percentage of body weight, the higher the machine suspends/lifts you! It inflates with more air to the point where you feel like your legs are almost dangling. It was pretty fun to play around with it and experiment how it felt to run at different levels! I can tell why many pro runners use this when injured; you can still get your miles in but without the high impact on your legs.

I ran a three miles on the AlterG at 8:00 pace. While my lungs felt like they were running at an 8:00 pace, my legs felt great! I've been curious about these machines for a while now so I'm so glad I had the opportunity to try one out!

This was the best experience I've ever had at Physical Therapy (and I've been to a bunch of different offices for non-running related injuries).  The space is huge and open with tons of different equipment and the people working at Finish Line PT are the nicest and most helpful people I've come across in NYC. Everyone went out of their way to make me feel welcome, answer any questions I had and be extremely helpful in every way possible. I can't wait to go back later this month!

THANK YOU Finish Line, and Abby and Jess for tweeting about them!!!

Have you ever been to Finish Line PT?